breaking news tonight. donald trump's surprise visit to mexico, standing side by side with that country's president. is trump backing down on some of his signature promises. he says they didn't even discuss who would pay for the wall. growing triple threat, another named storm gaining steam in the tropic, hurricane watches in florida millions on high alert. violent flight. an emergency landing with passengers injured during severe turbulence, the latest terrifying incident and pilots unable to see it coming. destination unknown. tickets are booked, bags are packed, plans are set, imagine, you're not even told where you're going. "nightly news" begins right now.

headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. >> good evening, i'm savannah guthrie, in for lester. mexico has played a prominent role for donald trump from fiery accusations about criminals and rapists pouring over the border to bold promises to erect a wall and force mexico pay for it. fast forward to today when trump fast forward today when trump in a surprise move, traveled to mexico city at the invitation of that country's president, standing side by side in a photo-op moment his advisors hoped would make trump come across presidential. gone was the confrontational rhetoric, no talk of a bill for the border wall. the question tonight, did trump make the most of an opportunity or miss one? we begin with miguel almaguer in mexico city. >> reporter: arriving late this afternoon in mexico city, donald trump's private

enrique pena nieto was cordial. >> we had a very constructive substantive exchange of ideas. >> reporter: after extending an invitation to the presidential nominee, mexico's president seemed at times defiant, a point by point rebuttal of trump's harsh critique of mexico. he says mexicans deserve the respect of everyone, a sentiment trump even echoed. >> spectacular hard working people. >> reporter: an about face when trump kicked off his campaign 14 months ago by vili vilifying mexico. >> they are not our friend, believe me, they're bringing drugs, they're bringing crime and they're rapists. >> reporter: easing his stance on trade specifically nafta, trump was also pressed on his promised wall along the border. >> we didn't discuss who paid for the wall, we didn't discuss -- >> reporter: that in stark contrast to support owners the

trail. >> who's going to pay for the wall? >> mexico. >> reporter: when mexican officials had taken on trump previously, he fired back. >> that wall gets 10 feet higher. >> the embattled president nieto whose popularity in mexico hovers just above donald trump's, had likened the republican nominee's rhetoric to that of a dictator like adolph hitler or or bennett toe mussolini, former president, vincente fox, going further on trump in his plan to make mexico pay for the wall. >> i'm not going to pay for that -- wall. >> reporter: with reports surfacing, negotiating for five day, the u.s. embassy that often provides briefing and support to candidates on foreign trips, this time staying on the sidelines. trump's team didn't reach out. trump's visit to mexico a gamble. >> he didn't know what the president of mexico would say. given the position he's in, he needs to gamble here or there. >> reporter: whether that gamble paid off is tonight up for

in a tweet late tonight, mexico's president is now s saying at the beginning with his conversation with mr. trump, he made it clear mexico would not pay for the wall. that's in contradictions to what mr. trump said during the press conference earlier today. of course, the presidential candidate is trying to look presidential here in mexico, while the mexican president is coming under fire for even inviting the the candidate into this country. savannah. >> miguel almaguer starting us off. a big day and big night with donald trump delivering what's billed as a major speech on immigration. his big campaign issue and letting people know exactly where he stands on some issues, even some who support him. hallie jackson is learning new details about trump's high stakes speech. >> reporter: donald trump, heading back across the border as his mexico city meeting overshadows the biggest policy speech of his campaign so far on immigration. what to expect? clarity presumably

do with the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants still living here. >> does he still plan to round up and deport every last illegal immigrant starting on day one. >> you will hear how he plans to address the 11 million. >> reporter: trump said he's not softening up. >> i had people say it's a hardening. >> reporter: even some of his advisors argue for a more moderate stance on deportation. >> wholesale importation is a lo gist call impossibility. >> reporter: he won't support in a path to citizenship, in contrast to hillary clinton. he tells the news trump will go after her hard tonight and call for better enforcement and >> we will build the wall. >> reporter: building the wall on the southern border has been trump's most consistent pledge. on this side of the border, his mexico attacks on mexico and rhetoric on immigration have rn

with democrats working to turn them out in november. and that includes voters like maria, a housekeeper in vegas. >> in more than five years that i vote, this is the top. i feel like we are under attack by donald trump. >> donald trump needs to be worried not only about his paltry numbers with latino voters, also how his position really affects independent and moderate republicans. those are voters who are also turned off by his hard line stance on immigration. >> reporter: while trump doesn't have much support from the hispanic community, a new poll just out shows nationally he's closing in on hillary clinton's lead. tonight, in phoenix, a key test, how and if he can reconcile his more diplomatic tone in mexico with the more fiery one we see from him on the campaign trail. savannah. >> hallie jackson, thank you. lots to chew on. with our political director, moderator of "meet the press," chuck todd. i think you agree this is a

>> as political there went, yes, it paid off for.. and we will learn how it went after the speech in totality. it does matter, what is his position and what does he plan to do with the 11 or 15 million undocumented folks here. does he soften his stance and is his tone truly different how he wants to tackle immigration. that we learn tonight. as political theater in mexico, i have to say -- this is -- granted the bar is extremely low for trump when it comes to staying on message and things like that. i thought he exceeded that bar and looked presidential. the thought i had was what the heck was the mexican president thinking? i think he's in more hot water tonight than anybody. >> chuck, thank you very much. with many polls showing a tightening race now, hillary clinton was on the trail as well today making her pitch to veterans even as she continues to grapple with sinking favorability ratings. here's nbc's andrea mitchell. >> reporter: tonight,

donald trump for his drop-in visit to mexico. >> it certainly takes more than trying to make up for a year of insults and insinuations by dropping in on our neighbors for a few hours. >> reporter: as trump was grabbing the spotlight south of the border, clinton trying to win over veterans at home, arguing to the american legion trump is wrong about the military. >> i completely reject anyone, including my opponent, who calls the american military, and i quote, a disaster. >> i like what she had to say and i think she might just have my vote in november. >> i'm a 1,000% trump man. i just don't believe i can trust hillary. she lies too much. >> reporter: her pitch to veterans coming as clinton's favorability is dropping. a new poll showing more americans view her unfavorably than ever before. among women favorability down nine points. >> madam secretary, just a few words. >> how are you doing, andrea?

might go to mexico, madam secretary? >> reporter: clinton in public today for the first time in almost a week, spending most of her time with big donors, rake ing almost $23 million in three days, paul mccartney and jimmy buffett and bon jovi. trump's speech certainly overshadowed clinton's speech today and trying to reassure veterans. >> thank you. we move to the tropics now. a state of emergency declared in florida as a gathering storm gains speed. tropical storm hermine closes in and hurricane watches are up. that is not the only trouble brewing. there's also not one but two hurricanes headed towards hawaii, millions bracing for impact. gabe gutierrez. >> reporter: tonight, what was once tropical depression number 9 has strengthened into tropical storm hermine, slogging towards florida's gulfcoast. >> the risk we have right now is

[000:09:59;00] storm surge. it's anticipated to be 3 to 5 feet, however we have the risk of up to nine feet of storm surge. >> reporter: the system threatening to dump up to 15 inches of rain in parts of the sunshine state. 42 counties now under a state of emergency and some places travel already treacherous, a driver rescued after this car was swept off the road. nearly 11 years since florida's last hurricane. fred metzler is already pumping water out of his gulfport restaurant at high tide. >> trying to keep it where it's not a swimming pool. >> reporter: hermine expected to continue to threaten the east coast with dangerous rip currents through the holiday weekend. half a world away, hawaii is bracing for hurricane madeline. windows boarded up, fema flying supplies to the big island and hurricane lester not far behind also churning in the pacific. tonight, noaa partnering with nasa

to fly a global hawk drone, the same military for spy missions now capturing these images of the storm off florida's coast. >> it flies higher than traditional manned aircraft do and flies longer. we can stay on station over the storm a longer period of time. >> reporter: storm surge expected to be a major problem up florida's gulfcoast. right now, there are mandatory evacuations under way in parts of franklin county, in the florida panhandle and several coastal communities starting to flood even before this storm makes landfall. savannah. >> all right, gabe gutierrez, thank you. al roker is here with us, a real busy time in the tropics, i see a mess on your map there. >> that's right. we've been talking about this system two weeks and will be talking about it into next week. hermine is 150 miles southwest of tampa and 45 miles an hour winds and stationary but you see the rain bands already pushing out. we look for landfall sometime in the florida panhandle late thursday evening and continues up the coast. look at the cone of uncertainty.

this is the latest philly, providence, washington, all have to worry about this system going into labor day weekend. we have hurricane watches from destin to the bay. look for hurricane watches, we have tropical storm watches in florida into georgia where we also have the risk of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes from savannah all the way down to tampa. rainfall amounts, 5-10, 12 inches of rain, but 7-8 inches all the way up to the carolinas and georgia. and we've got rip currents from port st. lucie all the way to nantucket. and, as we mentioned, we also have madeline 95 miles south of hilo, it stays to the south and lester to the north and hopefully they get spared. >> your plate is full, definitely, al. thank you very much. history was made high in the sky today with the first commercial flight from the u.s. to cuba in more than 50 years. it's a new chapter in the

thawing relikes thawing relations between our two countries after ties were restored last year. nbc's kerry sanders take us aboard. >> reporter: jetblue flight 387 made history today. a celebrated takeoff in fort lauderdale. destination, santa clara, cuba. the last regularly scheduled direct service to the communist island, 1961. among the 150 passengers on this inaugural flight, 16-year-old sophia compton from chicago. >> i think of it as school. i think it's really historical. >> reporter: the flight today is really remarkable, you think back to 1962. right now, we're over the same waters where the tense relations between the united states and cuba led to a u.s. naval blockade of the communist island. making the landing at 11:57 a.m. today, that much more momentous. in the coming weeks, at least eight u.s. airlines will be flying across the u.s. to various cities here displacing the expensive and

complicated charter flights. >> you have to be prepared right now to go to cuba and know it will be the equivalent of camping out. >> reporter: the cuban american martinez family traveled to cuba today to get married. >> we'll come again, maybe once a year. >> reporter: the cuban government hopes more americans will follow. kerry sanders, nbc news. santa clara, cuba. still ahead, nightmare flight. it happened yet again, a plane forced to make an emergency landing as violent turbulence leaves those on board with cuts, bruises and broken bones. >> bags, checked, ticket, checked, destination, well, that's a mystery. would you want to take a trip like this? it just kind of like, wiped everything clean. my teeth are glowing. they look great. they are so white. crest hd 6x cleaning. 6x whitening. and at two weeks, superior sensitivity relief to the leading sensitivity toothpaste. i actually really like the two steps!

crest hd step 1 cleans, step 2 whitens. done this. crest - healthy, beautiful smiles for life. what knee pain??

what sore elbow? nothing works faster stronger or longer what pain? advil. my wife and i are now participating in your mutual fund. we invested in your fund to help us pay for a college education for our son. we've enclosed a picture of our son so that you can get a sense there are real people out here trusting you with their hard-earned money. ♪ at fidelity, we don't just manage money, we manage people's money.

♪ we're back with terrifying moments we're back with terrifying moments with passengers and crews on a flight from lop don and the plane had to make a stop at ireland after severe turbulence over the ocean. 12 people were injured including women and children. >> reporter: on the ground in ireland, united flight 880 met by ambulance crews and medics tending to injured in the terminal. it was early in the morning when the bowing 767 ran into trouble over the atlantic. without warning, violent turbulence. >> a very huge drop in altitude, one right after the other. >> reporter: with at

least a dozen people injured ireland. >> we just want to confirm the aircraft is norm and you're not landing heavy? >> at this time, there are no control problems. >> there are a number of people waiting for you. >> reporter: while on the ground they tweeted emergency landing in ireland, a few people had broken bones. others described the scene on board. >> it was like one of those "star trek" episodes, you go through a field of rocks in the space and banging against everything, actually banging against things. >> most of them that weren't buckled in, they hit the roof, the ceiling. there was one next to me that hit the floor and some injuries due to that. >> reporter: turbulence is not uncommon. in may, severe turbulence forced a flight to make an emergency landing in indonesia, 31 people injured, some seriously. clear air turbulence usually occurs when the fast moving jet

stream the planes often use as a tailwind sudde very slow moving air. >> the problem for pilots, you can't see turbulence on radar. clear air turbulence is a high altitude phenomenon, because there are no thunderstorms associated with it, radar won't pick it up. ith it, radar won't pick it >> reporter: in the u.s., the faa reports last year, 21 people were injured in severe unexpected violent turbulence, it's why flight attendants and pilots remind all of us to always keep those seatbelts fastened. >> tom costello, thank you. when we come back, a hair raising close encounter caught on camera.

close encounter caught on camera. (man) honey, what's a word for "large blaze"? (wife] fire. [man] thirteen letters. [wife] fire. [man] thirteen letters. [wife] really big fire! [burke] conflagration.seen it. covered it. we know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two.

♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ it's the final days of the and the deals just got better. ♪ i'm free to do what i want and have a good time. ♪ just announced! 0% financing plus $500 labor day cash across the entire 2016 ford lineup. and specially tagged vehicles get an extra $1000 smart bonus cash. freedom from interest... and freedom to choose with ford. america's best-selling brand. ♪ i'm free, baby!

hurry. get 0% for 72 and $500 labor day cash plus specially tagged vehicles get another $1000 smart bonus cash. a deadlocked a deadlocked supreme court handed down a ruling this morning that could have a major impact on the upcoming election. in a 4-4 tie, the court refused to reinstate a controversial law requiring north

carolina vote to show a photo id. a lower court had struck that law down ruling it was making it harder for african-americans to vote. that lower court decision now stands. big change in brazil tonight. just over a week after the end to the olympics in rio, that country's president, dilma rousseff has been ousted by the senate for breaking fiscal laws while managing the budget. it has been a major drama in breezy for a year now, culminating in brazil's vote, which she called a coup and repeatedly denied those charges. a woman got a surprise when she looked up from her phone and came face to face with a black bear. she was sitting in her driveway when she suddenly noticed the unexpected visitor inches away. she caught it on camera sniffing her before her son came and scared it off. wildlife officials released that video as a warning to the public and now trying to find and track that bear. when we come back, how you can give yourself a surprise vacation and leave all

the planning to somebody else. the possibility of a flare was almost always on my mind. thinking about what to avoid, where to go... and how to deal with my uc. to me, that was normal. until i talked to my doctor. she told me that humira helps people like me get uc under control and keep it under control when certain medications haven't worked well enough. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections

and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened; serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. before treatment, get tested for tb. tell your doctor if you've been to areas where certain fungal infections are common, and if you've had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flu-like symptoms or sores. don't start humira if you have an infection. raise your expectations. ask your gastroenterologist about humira. with humira, control is possible. finally for us tonight, all the fun of going on vacation with none of the stress of having to actually plan it, adventurous travelers

are embracing this new kind of get awa all the arrangements are made for you but one key piece of the mystery is left until you arrive at the airport. >> reporter: they're heading off on vacation and they have no idea where they're going. >> i really wanted to go somewhere with alex but i had no way and no time to plan. >> reporter: they're trying a new travel start-up called "pack up and go," which leaves the destination a surprise. go online, set a budget, dates and type of trip. >> if you like spas or kraft beer, pull into restaurants, and tell us anything else we need to no. >> reporter: then pack up and go gets to work. a week before departure, clients get an e-mail with the weather forecast and what to pack and one thing to save for later, an envelope to open at the airport. >> so where do you think you're going? >> we got the weather of where we're going so we could pack appropriate clothes. >> we know the city is very scenic, to bring a

camera. we know we had to bring hiking shoes and a bathing suit. >> reporter: other travelers have tracked everywhere from austin for barbecue to nashville for brewery, chicago for first year anniversary, san diego and new orleans and minneapolis. the start-up says it's not just for millenni millennials. >> we've had couples celebrating 70th birthdays or 30th anniversaries or women best friends for 45 years. >> reporter: what are your final two guesses? >> nashville. >> portland, maine. >> reporter: portland, maine! >> boom! >> reporter: that's amazing. >> no cheating! >> reporter: away they go with a custom iteniary in hand. >> this is nice, so exciting. so many great places to eat. >> reporter: a surprise get way that make this journey as delightful as the destination. nbc news, pittsburgh. jo ling kent, nbc news, pittsburgh. >> that will do it for us, i'm savannah guthrie in for lester. i will see you tomorrow morning on "today." for all of us at nbc news, thanks for watching and have a great night.

"tod lights, camera, access. >> who is chris brown? the worst gang in the world, the police. man, that dude is crazy, man. >> why were you there? >> charged with assault with a deadly weapon, stunning new developments in the chris brown case.